The invention relates to an exterior rearview mirror for a vehicle, preferably a motor vehicle, comprising a mirror arm and a mirror housing which can be folded relative to the mirror arm and has mounted therein a support plate for the mirror pane. The support plate is adjustable in its position by an adjusting device that can be actuated by a control element from the interior of the motor vehicle.
Exterior rearview mirrors are known in which the folding action of the mirror housing resulting from an impact disengages the adjusting device from the support plate in order to allow for the folding movement of the mirror housing. Upon returning the mirror housing into the operational position there is the problem that the support plate and the adjusting device are to be connected to one another such that the support plate again assumes its original (adjusted) position.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to embody an exterior rearview mirror of the aforementioned kind such that for a simple constructive embodiment of the adjusting device it is ensured that the mirror pane support plate, after folding of the mirror housing and its return into the operational position, assumes again the originally adjusted position.